The detained captain of the cargo ship that collided with an oil tanker in the North Sea is Russian.

LondonFuel for the conspiracy theory fire? The captain of the cargo ship that collided with a tanker carrying US military jet fuel on Monday is a Russian national, the ship's owner, Hamburg-based Ernst Russ, announced Wednesday morning. The captain, whose identity has not been released, is 59 years old and was arrested Tuesday afternoon by Humberside police on suspicion of negligent homicide.

In the same statement, the shipowner also indicated that the rest of the crew was a mix of Russian and Filipino sailors. A British government source told local press on Monday that initial investigations did not suggest that the incident was caused by sabotage, but that it could not be ruled out either.

However, the revelation of the nationality of the captain and a large part of the crew, the fact that the Solong rammed a ship flying the American flag,Stena Immaculate, and the fact that specialists still cannot explain how such an accident was possible, when both ships have radar systems to avoid collisions even in thick fog, has once again fueled suspicions of intentional action.

To determine this, however, we will have to wait for the completion of the analysis of the recordings of the conversations from the two bridges – a system similar to that of airplane black boxes. The tanker Stena Immaculate It measures 183 meters in length, while the Solong It measures 140.6 meters. A crew member from this last ship is still missing and is now presumed dead.

Brutal attack

Data from the ship tracking website Marine Traffic suggests that the Solong was traveling at 16 knots at the time of impact. The impact was so brutal that theStena Immaculate, which was anchored about ten miles from the port of Hull,It moved almost 200 meters before stopping. After the collision, large explosions occurred, and both ships were engulfed in flames. The two hulls were initially stuck together, but separated on Monday night. From that moment on, the Solong began to drift south. On Tuesday night, the British Coastguard said the fire on board theStena Immaculate had "reduced considerably" and that flames were no longer visible. For its part, the Solong is still adrift and on fire Wednesday, but is not expected to sink.

The Solong had recently failed safety inspections related to the ship's steering system. Documents from the inspections, dated July of last year, show that Irish authorities determined that "the emergency rudder position and compass reading communications were illegible." This was one of ten deficiencies found during the condition check of the Portuguese-flagged vessel, which was carried out in Dublin. Other problems included "inadequate alarms," rescue craft "not properly maintained," and fire doors "that did not meet" safety requirements.

Separately, Virginia McVea, chief executive of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency, said on Wednesday that "there have been no further reports of marine pollution from either vessel beyond what was observed during the initial incident." In this regard, the Florida-based company that owns the tanker, Crowley, confirmed that at least one of the tankers' fuel tanks began leaking on Monday, following the collision.

According to the statements of a sailor of theStena Immaculate, on the American network CBS, "a huge ship appeared out of nowhere" and we only had "a few seconds to react." The sailor, who is not authorized to comment and who asked to remain anonymous, also said he heard shouts of "brace for impact." Other crew members of the American-flagged ship have indicated that there was no one on the bridge of the ship. Solong at the time of the accident.

The seabed and birds are at risk

The other big question investigators are asking is whether all the containers are still intact on both ships. "One of our main concerns regarding the environment is that just south of the incident site is an area called the Silver Pit, which is a unique glacial tunnel in the seabed, with very steep walls. It's home to many marine creatures, including anemones and other marine life that feed in the area. So, we're obviously concerned about its vulnerability, as it's a very fragile and delicate ecosystem," Tammy Smalley, head of conservation at Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust, told BBC Radio 4 this morning.

Another focus of concern for specialists is the area's seabirds. At this time of year, snipe and puffin gather in the North Sea before heading towards their breeding grounds. There are also waders and waterfowl that spend the winter on the coasts of Lincolnshire and Yorkshire. And a third element of concern is that the accident occurred during the mass migration season, with several bird species stopping to feed on the shores of these two counties.